


Keen-Edged

by SuperSunGunner



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Eventual Romance, Love, M/M, Original Character(s), Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-22 02:04:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15571317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperSunGunner/pseuds/SuperSunGunner
Summary: Ralph is a mess, Len is dealing with the shit show that is fatherhood, and Barry is trying to deal with it all. And with all of this happening, there's a meta on another Earth that's causing a stir. So it's your basic run of the mill in good the ol' CC .But, wait, are we not gonna talk about the fact that Leonard Snart is an adopted FATHER? Who the hell let that happen in this godforsaken Earth?





	Keen-Edged

**Author's Note:**

> There are so many fucking mistakes in here it's crazy. I'm literally fixing the mistakes as we speak. 
> 
> ((((I'm not)))

Act 1: I’M ONLY DECENTLY DRUNK, WOMAN

WOW.

 

His friends had absolutely no appreciation. 

 

Ralph had his hands behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling of his bedroom - or  _ quarters,  _ as Cisco had put it - in STAR Labs. He would never admit that he pouted with puppy dog eyes at the ceiling either. The brunette had just recently moved in, with a pile of boxes still in the corner, ready to be unpacked. But he had help from Barry with moving the desk and bed into the room. Especially the bed, as it was a bed only the size of royalty. He was tall, so of course he would need a bed only fit for a king! ...I-It was a king sized bed, if one didn’t get the reference. And he was still in his super suit, which was now charred due to electrocution. Now, it’s not what you’re thinking. Electrocution? There’s only one person in Central City with the power of lightning, and that was the scarlet speedster himself. But alas, ‘twas not the case. 

 

He had the pleasure of being introduced to Mark Mardon, or  _ Weather Wizard,  _ as everyone else had dubbed the man. It was supposed to be a simple job. Mardon had escaped from Iron Heights just a few hours prior, injuring a few guards in the process, but no one was hurt to the extreme, thankfully. He had made it to the edge of the city near the old railway tracks leading to Key Stone, and was about to disappear before the valiant hero came to save the day! Oh, and the Flash too. Can’t forget about him. The two had flashed-in in the nick of time. And everything was fine and dandy before Mardon decided it would be best to send a bolt of electricity down the tracks to an oncoming train. Ralph had thought,  _ of course, this district has been unused by trains - cargo or passenger - for years, but the  _ **_one_ ** _ train that just has to come is full of men, women, and children.  _

 

And it ensued Ralph to do the one thing he does best: not think. 

 

He ignored the Flash’s calls to tell him to stop from behind him, and had acted on instinct. He stretched himself over the electrified track, trying to stop the train from speeding up, and flying over the edge and crashing into oblivion. He began to unzip his suit. He didn’t have accelerated healing like Barry, but he did have resistance to blunt objects. But electricity isn’t a blunt object. Caitlin had explained it to him when she sat him down to tend his wounds, but it went one ear out the other. Something to do with how his body still reacts to chemicals the same way regular humans did. He rubbed at the bandages Caitlin had gently placed around his chest. Ralph could still feel the way the electric bolts had bit at his skin, making clouding his conscious with each strike. He would have passed out right then if the Flash didn’t save him in time. 

 

Good news is, the train continued its journey without another quarrel. But in the entire endeavor, Mardon got away.

 

And when they got back to the cortex, Caitlin was already on him. He was scarred, bloodied, and looked like, quite frankly, a train had run him over. Rookie was hot on his tail, preaching and almost on the verge of yelling at him. Barry was mad at him. He was used to the Scarlet Speedster being annoyed with him by now, so he really didn’t care all that much. Or more like he didn’t show it. And he guessed that pissed off Barry more when he said a joke about Mardon that if he was so smart, why didn't he just fly outta the city? Barry had stormed off right then when he said that. So yes, maybe it was his fault that Mark Mardon had gotten away,  _ but  _ at least he saved all those people on the bus, so why were his friends mad at him?

 

_ I’m not mad at how Mardon got away, I’m mad at how you handled the situation. _

 

Barry’s words echoed through the cortex, through the halls of STAR Labs, to his room, and back to his ears. Could he have handled the situation better? Yes. But he can’t say he regrets the choice he made either. If he didn’t block Mardon’s attack, then all of those people would have been Teriyaki stir fry. He won’t ever say that he regrets trying to save people. Besides,  _ Barry  _ was the one that taught him it was always more important to save civilians than to catch the bad guy. It was something that he would never forget. So why on this green and blue and sometimes purple Earth was Barry mad at him? The others weren’t mad. Well, Caitlin was, kind of. She had given him that look that she does. The ‘I don’t approve, but I’m not gonna say anything, just quietly judging you’ look. Cisco wasn’t even there, just on some other Earth with Harry trying to further develop one of their science experiments. And Iris just rolled her eyes and tended to her best friend. But he thinks Caitlin noticed the pained expression on Ralph's face when he saw his friend dash out the cortex. 

 

So yeah, Barry’s mad at him. Nothing new. 

 

His stomach grumbled. Ralph rolled over to his side and grabbed his cell phone next to his pillow and clicked the home button on. He groaned as the clock read two in the morning. Goddamnit! He had already eaten just a few hours ago! What the hell was this this new meta human metabolism?! Caitlin and Cisco don’t have to deal with this, why does he? This was metahuman racism, he was sure of it. 

 

The brunette sat up and looked to his door. Most likely, everyone else had gone home for the night, leaving him to his own devices. He’s watched enough horror movies to know how scary it was to be left in a giant building by yourself in the middle of the night. Most of the halls of STAR Labs were scary as hell, as most of the Labs have been unused for the passed few years. So yes, it did give him the heebie jeebies from time to time. The brunette decided to man up and go get some food anyway, the desire to extinguish his hunger taking over any inch of fear he had of roaming the halls alone. But before he went he decided to take off his suit. He grabbed the tiny square Cisco had blessedly given him, and pressed the button. The suit had been sucked right back in the square, but it left him all but naked. Not that he could ever say he would be mad at ever seeing his graceful body. Ralph rummaged through some his boxes of clothes in the nude and found an old pair of  black sweatpants and a solid sangria sweatshirt. He usually wouldn't be caught dead in this sort of attire, but it was the witching hour, so no one important would see him like this. Ralph ventured out into the hall, and down toward the elevator. He was fortunate enough that Cisco had left the hallway light on just for him. 

 

Hmm, he put a finger on his chin as he walked. Where would he go? Every restaurant would be closed at this hour, surely. Maybe there was some fast food restaurant or take out place that was still open. Ralph went to see if that Chinese pamphlet menu was still somewhere in the cortex. The brunette vaguely remembers Iris leaving it at her station just hours prior. Her and Barry probably went ordered some before heading to one of their separate apartments. Ralph pressed the button of the cortex floor.  But he guesses that pissing off Barry helped him get Chinese food in a sense, so tonight wasn’t a total failure.

 

He smiled as he licked his lips in anticipation. 

 

Ralph stepped into the cortex with a skip in his step, despite current events. Most of the lights were off except for the dimly lit ones used for nighttime to save power. It was also eerily quiet in the room, in which the air conditioning is doing that thing where it shuts off before turning back on again, leaving the unoccupied space uncomfortable under Ralph’s skin. But he wasn’t afraid of the dark or the quietness, hell no! 

 

His eyes skimmed across the room before they landed on the main console and lo and behold: the beautiful pamphlet was there, with ever loving glory. Ralph smiled as he picked up the packet in his hand and began to speed through it. It said somewhere on the menu that the restaurant itself was closed, but they did do delivery and pick up twenty-four seven. He had eaten at this specific chinese restaurant before as it was near CC Jitters, so he knew exactly what to order. In fact they all had eaten at this place before, just a few weeks prior. He recalls Barry ordering some of the fried dumplings which were filled with juicy beef. He remembers that taste they left in his mouth. Ralph smiles to himself as he remembers giving his praise to Barry with a full mouth. 

 

_ Oh mah g-d, shese ah so good! _

 

_ Come again? All I heard was ‘so good.’ _

 

_ Then you heard correctly. These are to die for.  _

 

_ Right?!  _

 

Ralph smiled into the menu at the memory, before a snore broke his trance. 

 

The brunette turned his head to the medical room to the right side of the cortex, and saw the only female scientist in STAR Labs asleep over some petri dishes. Ralph walked over to her slowly, not trying to wake her from her peaceful slumber. Caitlin’s mouth was open slightly as her chest slowly went up and down over the surface of the desk. But Ralph wasn’t surprised by this, not by a long shot. He was used to the scientists of STAR Labs sleeping over their work, or spending the night to finish some project. Hey, this was  _ Team Flash,  _ he was talking about. They barely ever got sleep, so much so that they even barely recognized the word. Sleep? Who is she? Don’t even know her. But as much as he would have loved to wrap a blanket around her and let his favorite doctor sleep, he couldn’t leave her in that position. He neck was to elongated - pun intended - to one side, so she surely would wake up with a kink if he would leave her like that. So he slowly grasped her shoulder and shook her gently. 

 

The doctor’s eyebrows scrunched, wrinkling her fair skin. She groaned as she slowly lifted her head and began to rub her eyes, Ralph was gifted with striking brown eyes as they skidded around the room until they landed on him. 

 

“Oh, hi.” She smiled weakly at him. “What time is it?” 

 

“Last I checked it was two twenty.”

 

The brunette dropped her head as she groaned, but it somehow turned into a yawn halfway through. Her hands tried to reach the ceiling as she began to stretch her arms. The good doctor must have been in that position for a while, because Ralph could hear the slight sound of joints cracking. 

 

“I was just working on something that Cisco had given me before he left.” Caitlin gestured to the papers and petri dishes in front of her. The woman eyed intently at the red test tube that laid vertical to her on the desk. “But I guess time got lost in the process. What are you doing up?” 

 

Ralph shrugged as he looked up from the scarlet test tube and down at her from her seat. “Didn’t really go to sleep.” 

 

“Were you thinking about Barry?” 

 

Yes. But he would never tell her that. “Pssh, Barry?” He crosses his arms and winks at her. “Why would I think about him? He was the one who threw a hissy fit. That kid only wishes he was in my thoughts.” Ralph knew that Caitlin was aware he was trying to avoid the topic of the Scarlet Speedster, so the doctor was smart enough to let the topic go for now. 

 

Caitlin gave him an, “Okay.” before she looked back to her arrayed desk. She was giving all of her work that look like, ‘Damn, this is a fucking mess and I don’t wanna pick it up.’ Being an entrepreneur in professional procrastinator and all things laziness, the private detective takes it upon himself to help his friend out. 

 

“Hey, I know it’s late, or early, whatever you consider two in the morning to be late or early, but I was going to order some grub. I could get you something.” Ralph wiggled his brown eyebrows.

 

Caitlin put a hand over her mouth as she yawned. “At this time of night? What restaurant would even be open at this hour?” 

 

He gave her a lopsided smile. “That chinese place near Jitters, they’re open twenty-four seven.” 

 

The fellow brunette groaned again as she leaned back in her chair. She rubbed her face as she shook her head. “Do you know how bad that is for you? Besides, if you are to eat that heart attack inducing cookery, you could at least order a side salad or something.” 

 

Ralph put a hand to his chest. “Salad? At a Chinese restaurant? What kind of tomfoolery?” He nudged her in the shoulder when she went back to her brooding over her work. “C’mon, Caitlin! It’ll just be the Detective and the Doctor taking a night on the town. Or more like cortex in this case.” 

 

“Morning.” She corrected him.

 

“Whatever. Besides, isn’t good to step away from your work so that you can have a fresh pair of eyes later?” He made it abundantly clear to her that he was not going to back down from this so, she just shook her head some more and grabbed the pamphlet from his hand. It took her no less than a few seconds to pick out what she wanted, so Ralph was already on the phone ordering two orders of the refried rice and a large of beef dumplings. 

 

“And how are you going to pay for all that, Ralph?” Caitlin asks suspiciously. The pair had waited no later than 30 minutes for the food to arrive, with the delivery man literally standing in the front entrance of STAR Labs, confused on how to come in. Caitlin spotted him through the security cameras, and sent Ralph to go get the food, but the man wanted to see the delivery man struggle some more on how to come in. But when he told her that, he was rewarded with a dead look and an eye roll. Caitlin had showed no sign of going back sleep, so he was thankful that he had someone to talk to and eat with. He’s never really had someone on onetime with the team’s doctor, so he supposed this would make some great bonding time. And that made the whole affair exciting. 

 

Even though he would have no problem eating by himself… 

 

Yeah, none whatsoever. 

 

He winked at the woman before reaching in his pocket and pulling out a small plastic card between his fingers. It was pure black on the front side, with the words ‘ _ STAR Labs’ _ embedded on the top right corner. 

 

“With the STAR Labs credit card~!” He sing-songed. 

 

She gaped at him. “Who gave it to you?” 

 

“Cisco~!” He kept sang her the same tune. Okay, it was only the half truth. Cisco had initially given him the card because he needed some parts for one of his machines, but none of the local stores had them, so they needed to be ordered online. Coincidentally, that was when he ‘had’ to go to Earth-2, and didn’t have time, so he gave the responsibility to Ralph. Which Ralph still hasn’t done by the way because, hey, he couldn’t  _ not  _ have ordered that new 3d case for his phone. Yes,  he may have gotten distracted on Amazon, but it was the same color of his suit, how couldn’t he have bought it? 

 

He was about to leave the room before Caitlin called back out to him. “Ralph, I doubt that that guy can take card.” 

 

Ralph turned back around and looked at her with wide eyes. “What?! Isn’t this the twenty first century?! Shouldn’t he have one of those square things attached to his phone where I can swipe?” The brunette made fake swipe movements in the air, walking back toward the woman. 

 

Caitlin rolled her eyes as she took her wallet from her purse and pulled out two twenties. “I don’t know, but here. Tell him to keep the change as tip.” 

 

“Doctor Snow you are an angel with a PhD!” 

 

“Yeah, yeah, but I want that card!” She tried to reach for it, but he stretched his arm out of her reach. “You can’t hold such a power, Mr. Dibny!” She called out after him as he ran out the room laughing. 

 

Dinner with Caitlin had been fun. 

 

He never really had some one on one time with her, so it really brought the fellow brunette into a new perspective for Ralph. Usually, Caitlin would usually keep to Cisco or herself, never really wanting to expose herself to the team if she did not need to. Which was ridiculous to Ralph. These were her friends, but she always seemed to be afraid to put herself out there. Ralph didn’t say anything, but maybe it had something to do with the Ronnie guy? He knows that her ex-dead-boyfriend was that Firestorm guy who unfortunately died. And then there was that Zoom guy who she was romantically involved with. And who he was genuinely confused about, name wise that is. Was the guy’s real name Jay, or was it Hunter? He was too afraid to ask the team about that, since it soon came to his knowledge that they had trusted the man before he bitterly betrayed them. And then he kidnapped her… like, damn. And then there was the british guy, who he has no idea about. He thinks the guy was blonde. 

 

But even with all that, Ralph wanted to speak about lighter topics like the current political climate. And no, he did not want to talk about that, but his doctor was so keen on it. Caitlin spoke about politicians Ralph had no idea of, but he kept nodding his head and acted like he knew what she talking about. But deep down, Caitlin probably knew he had no idea what she was going on about, but it was probably nice to have someone to listen to that wasn’t Cisco. Not that the man was trying to break the two best friends up, Ralph knew better than that. The two were a ordered pair, where one goes the other follows. 

 

The dumplings were just as delicious as he remembers they were. Caitlin had agreed as she moaned into her first bite. He savored the juicy beef as it melted in his mouth, dancing around his taste buds as if they had been waiting for the music to start. But as he was done with the orgasm that was presently occuring in his mouth, Caitlin had been giving him a look. 

 

“You have to talk to Barry, Ralph.” She says between bites. “He was just worried about you.” 

 

The private detective bit into his dumpling with a bit more force than he previously had. Ralph wasn’t  _ that  _ of an idiot. It was clear that Barry had been concerned for the fellow meta-human’s safety, but he had it under control. “I know. But… I saved those people, so what’s the problem?” 

 

“Ralph, we totally commend you for saving those people, but you could have been  _ electrocuted.”  _ She set her food down on an empty space of her messy desk. “Barry would never forgive himself if you got hurt on his watch. He worries so much when we all go out for a mission as it is.” 

 

But did that give Barry a reason to be an asshole and throw a temper tantrum?

 

But deep down… Barry had been worried about him? 

 

Huh.

 

“It’s not like I died or anything.” 

 

“Well, you could have.”

 

Ralph sets his plate down on the table next him and leans back. He puts his hands behind his head and lets out a long breath of hot air. So what she was trying to tell him is that Barry is mad at him because he worries too much? That sounds on the down low crazy, but Ralph guesses he can see the logic in it. Barry was one of the most righteous people he knows, so he’s like a mother hen in the sense that he wants to protect all of his loved ones. Ralph is the same way, but he just doesn't think before he acts, something that can be enduring, or torturous. And Barry shouldn’t be worrying about Ralph so much. Could the private detective be an idiot from time to time. Yes, but it usually all works out in the end. Ralph was the Elongated Man, he can take care of himself if need be, and so could the others. Hell, don’t even try to think about taking on Iris with a gun, she’ll take you out to dinner all the way to breakfast. That honestly didn’t make sense, but hey, it gets the point across. 

 

And when he thinks back, he could videdly see the look of fear on the man’s face when Ralph had stretched back to normal, all scratched and bruised up. Barry had carried him off the tracks and to an empty plot of land a few acres away to access the damage. And in the whole time, he was scolding Ralph as he did so.

 

He thinks that… that maybe he owes Barry an apology. Not for saving the people on the train, but for making the Scarlet Speedster worry so much. 

 

But how would he do it? 

 

“I'll talk to him.”

 

The doctor just nodded her head. “Okay.” 

 

He leans back forward and looks to Caitlin again, who has discarded her food entirely and now held the red filled test tube between her fingers. She stared at it intently with calculating eyes, as if she would find the answer she was looking for in the tube itself. Ralph doesn’t think science works like that, so he asks, “So, what are you working on?”

 

She grasped a the tube a little tightly before she swivleed her chair to look back at him. “Oh, just something that makes me want to ram my head against the wall.” She joked. 

 

“That bad?” 

 

“I don’t know, to be honest. Cisco had sent it to me via breach, and I have no idea what to do with it.” Caitlin leaned forward to pass him the test tube. She placed it gently in his palm, like she was afraid it might break under his touch or something. It seemed big in her hands, but it looked tiny in his. Ralph brought the tube slowly to his eyes, trying to see if anything was inside but to no avail. He tilted his head upwards and looked to the lights on the ceiling. He placed the tube between it and the light trying to get a better view. The tube was a dark scarlet, but you couldn’t see through it. It was clearly a liquid, but it had the same condesity as milk in the way it stuck to the glass as he shifted it around. 

 

“So what is it?” 

 

“It’s blood.” 

 

Well he could have figured that out by just looking at the damn thing. 

 

“Why would Cisco send you blood through a breach? And why has he been acting so cryptic lately? He could literally just talk to us through a breach, stick his head out at least.” Cisco hasn’t even sent them that of a small message or letter signaling him that he was alright for days. A few weeks ago, he and Harry had left for Earth-2 on some sort of science endeavor that he and the others didn’t really understand. Or more so that Ralph didn’t get all the science mumbo jumbo the two had tried to fill the team in on before they had left. 

 

“I don’t know.” Caitlin shook her head. “But he has messaged me and told me that whatever he and Harry have been working on these passed couple of weeks has been important. But he literally sent me this in one of those cube things with a holographic message saying, ‘Important. Please Analyze. TTYS.’” 

 

“And have you found anything?” 

 

“Besides that it’s just blood?” She ran her fingers through her light brown hair. “No. That’s why I’m so frustrated.” 

 

Ralph tries to give her a reassuring smile. “I’m sure you’ll find something.” 

 

Caitlin lets out a loud yawn as she stretches her arms up in the air. “Let’s hope.” 

 

“Tired Doc?” He smirked. He knows damn well that the brunette hasn’t slept for hours. 

 

“Yeah.” Caitlin was able to muster. 

 

“Maybe you should head home?” He tries to suggest, standing up. She tried to wave him off, but Ralph had already made it abundantly clear he had no intention of letting the doctor sleep at this desk tonight. Ralph knew that there were an abundance of cots scattered around the labs, there was even one in the corner of this room, but he didn’t want her sleeping here tonight. She seemed way too stressed at figuring out what the hell Cisco had sent her through one of those box things that other Earths were obsessed with. Ralph wanted her to sleep in her own bed and have a good night's sleep before coming back to more frustration. 

 

“No, it’s already almost the time that I usually arrive anyway.” 

 

“Yes, because we just  _ have  _ to clock in everyday, don’t we?” He picked up her black Coach purse by the strap and passed it to her. “Cause this is a nine to five job, right?” 

 

Caitlin shakes her head, smiling. “Shut up.” 

 

She takes the bag. 

 

As he had ushered her in the elevator doors, he made her promise that she would come in at lunch so she would at least get a good night’s sleep. He thinks it would be best if the doctor would go home instead just wait a few hours and start the day. She had been reluctant at his motion at first, but soon agreed due to his aggressive persistence. He had assured her that he could hold down the fort for a couple of hours. Besides, what could go wrong? It’s not like they have been facing some brutal enemy as of late. It’s been pretty chill in the CC, so it was time to relax, and not worry about a thing. But he didn’t say that to Caitlin, because if he did, then the doctor would probably break out in hives at the notion that everything was okay. Meaning, that she probably thinks this short time that they’ve been in short peace is just a false pretense. Caitlin was a natural worry wart, so he just wanted to have his friend have a good night’s sleep and chillax. Hm… if he wanted Caitlin, or even all his friends actually, to relax, then maybe he should take them all out? Not to that strip club like last time, as they were all kicked out for boatload of reasons. But the main reason was  _ Barry _ who drunkenly decided that he needed more hot wings for his everlasting hunger, and decided to raid the kitchen. Which then led an also drunk  _ Ralph _ to have an altercation with the chef, saying he needed to ‘defend Barry’s honor’. 

 

Ha. Good times. 

 

While walking back to the cortex doors, he spots the test tube from across the room, shining in the light. Ralph assumed the glowing was only due to the ceiling lights reflecting on the glass of the tube, so he thought nothing of it, and headed back down on the elevator to his room. He didn’t realize how tired he was until he had hit the mattress, and closed his eyes. 

 

Then a thought occurred. A very spontaneous, but it was a thought nonetheless. 

 

Ooh, but indulging on this thought would  be so bad. 

 

Fuck it. 

 

-000-

 

Ralph had a hard time deciding whether he should knock, or just stretch himself flat and squeeze through the bottom of the door. If he chose the first option, he would wake up the sleeping forensic scientist inside, thus making him more mad at Ralph. If he chose the second option though, and breaks in, he is guaranteed he would be greeted with a super sonic punch with lightning on top. So this was a clear no win situation. Ralph sighed as he thudded his head against the door, but silently so it would not make any noise. He had no idea why he had to come to Barry’s apartment at this time of night, or morning, as it was now four fifty seven as his watch read. He actually had no idea where Barry had lived, and had to sneak through some of the STAR Labs records to find it. He would think he would have been here before, but since most of their meetings were held in the labs, and their outings were  _ outings,  _ he’s never had the chance to pay the Scarlet Speedster a home call. 

 

He stared down at the keys in his hands. If someone asked him if he stole the STAR Labs van under the jurisdiction that he needed to visit a friend, he would deny it. But does it really matter, though? They have dozens of those vans sitting to rot in the car garage of the labs. It’s not like anyone will miss them any time soon. But either way, he had come to apologize, not for saving the people, but for how he handled the situation. Caitlin had led him to a whole new light on the argument, and he soon realized that yes he was in the wrong, but Barry shouldn’t have thrown a hissy fit. Not that he was here to get an apology out of Barry, but it would be nice if he got one. But that didn’t matter though, because he was here to make this right. Hopefully. Ralph just prays that he won’t mess it up by opening his big mouth and saying something completely out of the blue. 

 

He had recited the whole thing while he was driving over here, he would say sorry right here on Barry’s door step, and make a swift exit like a badass. He knew damn well that Barry won’t let him in, as he was already pissed at Ralph, so that was the plan. 

 

Maybe this was a stupid idea. 

 

But before Ralph could stop his own hand, he was already knocking on the door. Or more so that he was pounding so loud that it would surely wake the neighbors next door, not that he cares much, it was Barry’s neighbors after all, not his. 

 

_ “Coming!” _ He heard through the door, a voice which was none other than the Scarlet Speedster. The brunette saw the lights of the apartment turn on through the bottom crack of the door as he heard hurried footsteps come closer. When Ralph saw two shadows of what seemed to be feet stop on the other side of the door, he then assumed Barry was probably looking through the peephole to see who had knocked on his door and disturbed his slumber in this unholy hour to be awake. The brunette then smiled and waved through the peephole, probably looking like a complete dumbass, but he didn’t care. He was here to apologize and make amends, not for social hour. Ralph thought he couldn't be more nervous until the door knob of the metal door hastily opened, and was being pulled away from him, revealing the forensic scientist. Barry’s dark brown hair was sticking completely to one side, not seeming to want to follow the laws of physics. He wore an old Nirvana t-shirt that was wrinkled and some bright neon green sweatpants Ralph had no idea the CSI had owned. He was squinting hard at the private detective through hazel eyes, signaling that his eyes were still not becoming accustomed to the light as of yet. 

 

“Ralph,” Barry gaped at the fellow brunette. “it’s five in the morning.” 

 

The brunette nods his head enthusiastically and tries to ignore the unhinged look Barry was throwing way. Ralph knew that this whole thing probably seemed crazy to the speedster, but the whole situation made sense in his head. Or tried to, anyway. Ralph gives Barry one of his special smile, the one he used to give suspected persons when he working on a case. “Um, yeah. It  _ is _ five in the morning.” 

 

Barry rubbed the crust out of his eyes with his knuckles. The fellow brunette says groggily, “What are you doing here? I didn’t think you knew where I lived.” 

 

“Well, Caitlin told me…  I wanted to talk to you.” 

 

“Caitlin?” Barry’s head tilted. “Look, Ralph if this is about the train-” 

 

Ralph brought his hands up, signaling the scientist to stop talking for the time being. “I just…” Wow, this was harder than he thought it was going to be. Why did no one tell him that being the bigger person was always so hard? He bit his lip, as he looked down to the floor before looking up at Barry. “I wanted to say I was sorry.”

 

Barry’s perfectly cut, brown eyebrows scrunched, but he continued. 

 

“I don’t feel bad for saving those people, but I get it. I worried you, and it was messed up for me not to consider your feelings… or whatever. So,” Ralph took a step back. At this point, he was looking at everything  _ but  _ Barry, and he needed to make his getaway fast. “Sorry. Bye.” 

 

The private investigator turned on his heels and took his first step down the hall. Ralph smiled to himself as he walked down the it, praising himself. Ha, he totally nailed that! But he didn’t really get a look the fellow brunette as he chickened out and ran like a coward. He knew Barry wouldn’t ridicule or call him stupid or anything, but why was the fear still there then? He silently hoped to himself that Barry had seen his apology had been genuine, and not another one of his antics. He pressed the elevator button. The elevator had already chimed open immediately, probably because it never left this floor because no one else was using it at this time of night. His left foot was already inside,  but suddenly, a flash of light developed behind him, and he soon felt a large hand on his shoulder blade. 

 

“Ralph!” Barry said. “Just wait a second, please.” 

 

He thought to himself,  _ THE PLAN RALPH. THE PLAN,  _ as he heard the Scarlet Speedster approached. He turned around so that he was fully facing Barry. He tried to hide the surprise that wanted to emerge from his face. Ralph felt the hand on his shoulder blade move to his arm. Goddamnit! He was supposed to make a clean getaway, why was Barry ruining this! 

 

“I appreciate the fact that you apologize, even if you did come here at like  _ five in the morning _ .” Barry sighed. He grasped Ralph’s arm tighter. “But I gotta say sorry too. I shouldn’t have yelled at you back at the scene and back at the labs. I guess I was kinda mad that Mardon got away because I had to take care of you. But still, that’s not an excuse. I’m just glad you’re alright and not fried chicken.” 

 

Ralph saw nothing but sincerity from the speedster’s hazel eyes, but for some reason, he couldn’t look into them for long. Barry’s apartment building was the type to have red brick walls  _ inside  _ the building, giving it that modern or industrial effect. 

 

He didn’t really know exactly what to say as this was not part of the p

 

So he opted for this: “But fried chicken tastes good.” 

 

“Yeah.” The hand on his arm dropped. “It does.” 

 

Ralph cursed himself? Why does he always say something stupid at the most dire of times? Barry had just given him the apology he had secretly hoped for, and now he was making this worse, worse in his eyes that is. And it didn’t help that the way Barry’s eyes were cast down to the wooden flooring of the hallway, looking like a kicked puppy, either. Ralph rubbed the back of his neck and tried to help the situation. “Look, man, I know you’re worried and junk, but I can take care of myself.” 

 

“But that’s the the thing, Ralph, we’re a team. We take care of  _ eachother.”  _

 

“O-oh…” He knew that of course, but it’s the way Barry was looking at him made him want to apologize even more. Why did everything that Barry says sound like it comes from a stupid, cheesy romantic comedy or novel? It’s like Barry was trying to make his life an actual superhero movie or something when he says things like that. And what the hell is he supposed to say to that? “Yeah, but…”

 

“But?” 

 

“But I feel like you need to trust me to do things on my own. And that goes for all of us.” 

 

“‘All?’”

 

“I know I haven’t been around for long, but I see the way you try to take everything on your own, you think it’s your responsibility or something, but it’s not. It’s all of ours.” Ralph held his chin up high. Where the hell was all of this coming from? He doesn’t really know, but Barry has to hear this because no one else was telling him. “You can’t take on the whole world by yourself, Barry. That’s why we’re a team, after all. If we take care of eachother, than you have to let us take care of you too, Rookie.” 

 

Barry’s head fell to the floor. Ralph cringed to himself as he silently groaned. Why did he say all of that? 

 

“I know I’m not always the best leader, but hey, I try sometimes to make everything right, make everyone happy.” He raised his head back up to look at Ralph. “I know I can be dumb sometimes and act on impulse, but I’ll try not to be the valiant hero and let you guys in too.” 

 

“Now, now, now, I didn’t say that, Allen.” Ralph smirked as he wiggled his eyebrows. “In fact, I like it when you act all Captain America on the bad guys. Really leg wobbling.” 

 

Barry smiled. “I’ll think about my pre fight speeches before then.” 

 

“Yeah.” Ralph grinned. “I’ll try to think before I act.” 

 

“And I’ll try to not throw temper tantrums in the cortex.” Barry chuckled. 

 

Ralph let out a laugh. “C’mon, it wasn’t  _ that  _ of a tantrum, and besides, it was cute. Especially at the way you stomped your foot on the ground.” 

 

“Okay.” Barry let out a long breath. “So we good?” 

 

Ralph rubbed the back of his head with a small grin forming at the sides of his mouth. “Yeah, we’re good. But I was the one that came here, so shouldn’t I be the one asking that question, Rookie?” 

 

“Cause I’m just a control freak, duh.” Barry says, and gives Ralph a playful look before he lightly punched the man on the soldier.  They stared at each other for a few long moments, both of them smiling. Ralph felt very warm in his chest, like as if Heat Wave had just shot through him. And the way Barry’s eyes were crinkling and sparkling at him signaled he was probably feeling the same way, whatever feeling this was. 

 

“Do you wanna come in? I don’t think I’ll be getting much sleep now.” Barry says as he points his thumb back to his open apartment door. Damn, his plan had gone off the rails, but he felt better going this route though. 

 

“Sure.” 

 

-000-

  
  


Ralph didn't want to get up when the warm light had ruefully decided to glaze his face. The brunette groaned as he shifted himself deeper in the soft covers as he tried to hide himself from the outside world and the supplemental responsibilities. If he opened his eyes, that meant he was awake, and he really did not want to be considered awake right now because then he’d have to get up. Barry’s couch was ever so comfortable, providing the warm and care that a man like him needed to have a beautiful slumber. He and Barry had talked for hours, so much so that it was almost dawn when Barry decided that he needed to go back to bed because he had work in the morning. They had talked about the most weirdest things, things Ralph never knew about Barry. For example, Ralph had no idea that Barry hated corn. He had no idea how the conversation had shifted in talking about foods they disliked, but Barry cringed when he gave out his answer. When Ralph let out a quite yawn - his first for the whole night, mind you - Barry had suggested that he should sleep on the couch and get some sleep, as he hadn’t slept for more than twenty-four hours. Ralph was about to decline and head back to the labs, but once his head somehow landed on the soft couch pillows, he was out like a light. Barry must have put the maroon blanket over his sleeping body though, as he doesn’t remember ever doing it himself. 

 

It smelled like him. 

 

Ralph was still in the sangria sweat shirt and black sweatpants. He had left his shoes at the door, which was the reason his feet were cold. Ralph put his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them, creating self warmth. It was cold in Central City, as November had just began and autumn was in full swing. He probably didn’t really notice the cold last night when they were fighting Mark Mardon because their suits had an integrated heating in them. But Barry’s blanket was keeping him warm, and that’s all he really cared about. He tries to go back to sleep, but the blanket isn’t opaque enough to keep out the light. Ralph groans he rubs his face underneath the blanket and decided to get up and face the day. He can’t say he is completely comfortable sleeping by himself in the depths of STAR Labs, but it was nice to sleep someplace that didn’t feel like a complete dungeon. Ralph’s bedroom was starting to feel like home, but it was still missing one crucial factor: Warmth. 

 

The brunette sat up. He uses the blanket as a hood, trying to cover his eyes from the impending light. Ralph didn’t know why the hell Barry didn’t buy fucking curtains, but the metahuman can understand why he hasn’t as of yet. Barry’s apartment, or  _ loft,  _ as the young people called it, had a pretty simple design. If one opened the front door, they would be greeted with a set of stairs going up to the loft, but to the right they would see the open floor plan. The loft was pretty much one big room, with the living room in the middle and the kitchen off to the side. But on one side of the loft was a giant glass window that covered all of the left wall and went to the ceiling and to the floor. It even went up to the bedroom, which was technically just a large platform that looked down to the space below. It was actually pretty big for one person, so if two people wanted to live here, they could. 

 

Wait. So Barry’s bedroom was open. 

 

He hasn’t gone up there yet, not that he needs to. 

 

But deep down he wants to. 

 

Maybe it was his inner private detective telling him to go upstairs and look through Barry’s things, maybe it was just pure curiosity. Ralph doesn’t want to invade Barry’s space, but there’s an itch telling him he needs to. The brunette shook his head aggressively, putting his hands over his face. What the hell was he going on about? He can’t disrespect Barry like that, not after they had just made up and sorted everything out. Besides, Barry had trusted him enough to leave him alone in his apartment, so he should at least live up to Barry’s level of trust. Besides, going through he his things? That was grade A stalker status at it’s finest. 

 

Ralph shook his head as he layed back down and buried his face into the cream pillow he had slept in the night before. 

 

He eyed his phone on the coffee table for a few seconds, but groaning and reaching out to pick it up. He wasn’t fully surprised when the digital clock on his phone read two forty seven, nor was he surprised at the level of notifications his phone had received. The brunette scrolled through his messages to discover only that Caitlin had texted him in saying she’ll be coming to the labs late today, so that he shouldn’t wait up on her. But the thing with his job at STAR Labs, is that he really doesn’t do anything. All he ever really does is hang out with Caitlin or Cisco until something comes up when the Elongated Man is needed. But sometimes he’ll actually help his Latino friend in his personal lab to do some heavy lifting or heavy  _ stretching.  _ He would help Caitlin too, with whatever it is that she needed. Sometimes, she would send him on grocery missions and whatever the sort, when she was missing a medication or something. 

 

But as he scrolls deeper, he finds a message, one from Barry. 

 

_ [ _ **_SCARLET LOSER: 7:26 a.m._ ** _ \- Hey. So I didn’t want to wake you up, you just looked so comfortable. Do you know you kick in your sleep? I was walking by to leave and I saw it from the corner of my eye. But it was like a stretch kick, you almost hit the wall, that’s like TEN FEET MAN. Anyway, do you wanna grab lunch or something? You’re probably sleeping now, but tell me if you can.] _

 

Ralph hissed as he looked at the clock again. It was almost three, so maybe Barry was down for a late lunch? 

 

_ [ _ **_SANGRIA SOLDIER: 2:50 p.m._ ** _ \- Sorry for the late reply, I just woke up. Maybe it’s too late, but I can do lunch… ?] _

 

Ralph put the phone back on the table, and was about to close his eyes again to go to sleep, but was surprised at how his phone rang and vibrated at lightning speed. 

 

_ [ _ **_SCARLET LOSER: 2:50 p.m._ ** _ \- I just had a busy day, so I haven't gotten lunch yet. IM ABOUT TO DIE OF STARVATION, R. how about Jitters? And then maybe we could head back to the labs.] _

 

_ [ _ **_SANGRIA SOLDIER: 2:51 p.m._ ** _ \- I want food Rookie, not coffee.-_-] _

 

_ [ _ **_SCARLET LOSER: 2:52 p.m._ ** _ \- They have a good selection there! Have you tried their sandwiches? :ppp So how about an hour?] _

 

Ralph sighed. 

 

_ [ _ **_SANGRIA SOLDIER: 2:53 p.m._ ** _ \- Fine. But it’s on you.] _

 

_ [ _ **_SCARLET LOSER: 2:55 p.m._ ** _ \- When is it never, Mr. Dibny? ;)] _

 

The brunette smiled into the phone. 

 

Ralph yawned as he stood from the couch, and sauntered off toward the bathroom near the stairs. It wasn’t that big, with just a tub, a toilet, and a single sink. The apartment only had the one bathroom, but it fit the minimalist style the apartment was going for. He washed his face with cold water to try to wake him, and used a unused towel from the towel rack. Who the hell was Barry trying to impress? Why did all of his towels had to be pristinley folded?

 

The sink had an abundance of counter space to it for one person, so he could see all of Barry’s toiletries out in the open. He had a thought to put all of the toothpaste and combs and such scattered across the counter back in the wide open medicine cabinet, but he thought it would be best if he left things where they were. He didn’t want Barry thinking he was a stalker or something. He found an unopened toothbrush in the sink cupboard, and he knew that Barry wouldn’t care if he had uses it. Ralph tried his best not to look into the medicine cabinet while he brushes to see what kind of medication Barry uses. But the metahuman already knows that Barry can’t be using normal medication, as his body would just burn through it all at an alarming rate. 

 

Ralph frowned when he caught sight of his disheveled hair, sticking widley to one direction. He didn’t want to use one of Barry’s combs, not that he minded, he just did not know if the Scarlet Speedster thought so as well.  So he opted to use some water and his fingers to try to get some sort of style, and soon enough, his hair was back to the usual Dibny standard. He had already checked to see if there were any hair care products on the sink counter, and he found some hair spray that was glossed with pink all over. He silently smiled to himself in knowing that Barry used female hair products. 

 

He stepped out of the bathroom and made his way back to the couch to pick up his phone, wallet, and keys. He had almost forgot he sto-  _ borrowed  _ the STAR Labs van to drive over here. Ralph checked his phone to see if there were anymore messages, and when there were none, he took his leave. He found his shoes near the front door, so he put them on lazily. The brunette didn’t have keys to lock the apartment, but there was a lock on he knob from the inside, so he was in luck. He didn’t drive all the way to Jitters at first, he decided he was too thirsty to wait to get a drink, so he decided to stop at Big Belly Burger to get a extra  _ extra  _ large Sprite. While walking down the hall from Barry’s apartment, he had a second thought to go back to sleep on that comfortable couch, but decided against it. He was already awake, so he knew there was no way in hell he was going back to sleep. 

 

Ralph moans into his drink as it’s cold syrupy contents drizzled down his throat. He rests his head on the back of the seat while his legs lay comfortably complacent on the dashboard. And stares from across the street up at the front doors of the precinct. He has no idea why he’s decided to drive all the way over here when he knows fully that Barry can just speed his way over to the cafe, but he came anyway. Barry should be getting out in about ten minutes, and he was passing by, so he thought, why not? And besides, the speedster probably hasn’t been in a car in forever, this will be an nostalgic experience for him. The little shit. He wants to see the look of surprise on Barry’s face when the scientist sees that Ralph came all the way just to pick him up. He wants to see that dumb smile the rookie always gives him when he’s done something right or heroic. 

 

Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah. 

 

Back the hell up. 

 

Did he just say he wanted to see Barry’s  _ smile _ ? 

 

What the hell in a seashell? 

 

Gross. 

 

From the corner of Ralph’s eyes, he sees a tiny flash. He has a slight heart attack, thinking it’s Bary. He doesn’t want the other man seeing him in the middle of his mental crisis, but when he turns his head to look to the passenger seat, no one was there, but a groggily looking blonde passing the passenger window. He couldn’t see his face yet, but from the back the guy looked young, no more than an older teenager. He wore a black leather jacket, something that reminded the brunette of a old greaser movie, and ripped blue jeans with black converse. On a regular day, Ralph wouldn’t have batted an eye at the kid, probably just another punk teenager, but the young blonde was swaying back and forth on the sidewalk until he sees the kid lean on a lamp pole, well, not exactly lean, but more like fall onto it for support. Ralph debates whether he should get out of the car or not. On the upside, the kid could have probably just gotten hurt by some freak accident or something, but on the down side, this could just be some teen high on molly. Ralph puts his enormous drink in the cup holder. Okay, it didn’t matter if the kid was on drugs or not. He should still help him, that’s what heroes did. And yes, he wasn’t wearing his suit, but he didn’t have to wear it to be a hero. And besides, people were just walking passed the kid without a care in the world, he even sees a woman glance up from her phone, and looked at the kid like he was some bug or something. What the hell has this city come too? 

 

Ralph takes the keys out of the ignition and got out of the van. 

 

The kid wasn’t that far away, just a few yards, so Ralph was on the blonde in seconds. But the boy wasn’t a bleach blonde, more like a brownish blonde. A type of blonde he’s seen before actually, but he can’t put his finger on it. None of his friends has this color of hair, but it still looked so familiar to him, why the hell was that? The hair, and the rest of the boy’s body, was completely covered in sweat. There was a tiny red tint that went up the blonde’s exposed neck and up his covered face. The kid used his arm for support as he leaned on the pole, with his forehead resting against his forearm. He sounded out of breath, like he’d been in a triathlon. 

 

“Hey, blondie, you alright?” 

 

When there was no response, Ralph gently laid his hand on the other man's shoulder. It was surprisingly hard, and Ralph silently praised the boy for good back muscle. Yeah, totally not creepy at all, Ralph. But touching was a mistake, as the blonde quickly turned and weakly swung at him with the arm that was resting on the pole. 

 

Ralph jumped back. 

 

He put his hands up to signal no harm. “Woah, kid. Just take it easy, just trying to help.” 

 

The blonde leaned back on the metal pole for support. “I - I don’t need your help.” He said between heavy breaths. “Just leave me a - alone.” 

 

The brunette shook his head. “You’re completely red, man, and on top of that, you look ready to pass out. Have you been running or something?” Or more so running  _ away _ from something? Ralph took a step forward. “Look, I can take you home-” 

 

The boy stood a little straighter as he backed away from the pole, away from Ralph. Their interaction has most likely sparked some adrenaline in the strawberry blonde, so maybe that’s where he was getting this new found energy from. But he still looked tired though, like a runner that still had a few laps left. Ralph finally got a good look at the kid, and he was fairly surprised with what he saw. His cheeks were puffed red and so were the rims of his eyes, so it was clear the boy had been crying. The kid’s long eyelashes were clumped together, so that further proved that he  _ had  _ shed a boatload of tears. Ralph’s eyes trailed down the boy’s neck, and he could barely see the small picture of a daffodil tattooed to his pale skin. The brunette didn’t have any tattoos, but he was fairly certain that it was a fine line tattoo. Meaning, it was only black prominent lines. He didn’t know how far it went down the boy’s chest, but it  _ was  _ cool. But even so, it got Ralph thinking, what is a kid who looked no older than sixteen or so, doing with a tattoo like this? 

 

The blonde spoke, “I don’t wanna go home. Just leave me alone, man.” 

 

Ralph hoped he wasn't dealing with a runaway, because those stories always sucked. 

 

“I’m sure your parents are worried.” Ralph tried. But he could hear the buzzer ring  _ wrong!  _ when the kid’s head bolted up. He looked at Ralph with those golden, honeydew eyes, probably calculating all the ways he could take Ralph apart limb by limb. What the hell was with this kid, why was he so on edge? It didn’t sit right with the private investigator, but either way, he still wanted to help. At least he now knew the subject of parents was a bad motion for the blonde, so he decided to go a different route. “You just looked tired is all.”

 

“Man, just leave me alone, alright? It’s none of your business anyway, so just back off.” The kid spat before walking off. 

 

He had a limp. 

 

Ralph tried to put a hand on the kid’s shoulder but - 

 

“Ralph?” The brunette turned around, and lo and behold, there was Barry Allen, looking at him with those big hazel eyes. He had his forensic case hanging on his hip, with his hand held onto the strap as if it was a woman’s purse. His head was tilted, and his eyebrows were scrunched. “What are you doing here?” 

 

“Oh, hey, I was just -” Ralph turned back around to stop the kid from walking any farther, and hopefully try to convince him to let the brunette help him, but he was gone. Ralph’s jaw went slack. Okay, there was no fucking way that this kid could have gotten far, so how the hell did he disappear so fast? He said while still looking all around, trying to spot him, “Hey, I was just talking to this kid.” 

 

“I know.” The brunette looked to Barry with his eyebrows knitting together. “I saw from my lab’s window. When I saw him collapse on the pole, I would have sped down to help sooner, but Singh has been up my ass about this case, so I thought that you could handle it. Why are you here, though?” 

 

“I was gonna pick you up since we were meeting for lunch, but then that kid walked passed. You didn't see which direction he went in?” 

 

A slight pink tint arose on Barry’s face as the scientist shook his head. “No. What’d he look like?” 

 

“He looked like a blonde greaser to be honest, tattoos and everything.”

 

Barry cocked his head. “Sounds like your average punk. Do you think it was drugs that was wrong with him?” 

 

Ralph had gotten no signals whatsoever that the kid had been intoxicated in the slightest. “No, he just looked really tired, like he was running or something.” 

 

“Or running  _ away  _ from something.” Barry said skeptically. 

 

He nodded his head in agreement. “Exactly.” 

 

“Do you want me to see if he’s still around somewhere?” And by that, Barry of course meant that he was suggesting to use his powers. Ralph then looked around, taking note of all the people who were walking by them. He shook his at the brunette. There were too many witnesses.

 

“Well, he’s probably long gone by now.” Ralph said distantly. The kid didn’t look like he was going to die per say, but he still looked like he needed to take a breather. Ralph wished he could have helped him sooner, maybe take him to a place where he could rest and tell his story to the metahuman, but he guesses not. From the corner of his eye, he saw the corner of Barry’s lip tip upwards slightly. “What?” 

 

“Nothing, it’s just… Well, look at Mr. Dibny, being the neighborhood hero.” 

 

Ralph’s tight frown started to loosen, and became a full on smile. “Yeah. Anyway, I’m sure those sandwiches aren’t gonna be as bad as you say they are.”

 

Ralph made his way back to the van, with Barry following.

 

“Hey, their club sandwiches are to  _ die  _ for! And I hear they’re pumpkin lattes are coming out today!” 

 

“And this is why people hate millenials, Barry.” 

  
  
  


_ Ralph  _ -000-  _ Len _

  
  
  


See, Len didn’t seethe, he was too above that to even be compared to someone who  _ did  _ do that, but at the same time, he can’t help but stare into his scotch on the rocks like someone had just put hot sauce in it. Normally, he’d sit at the boothe in the far corner of the bar, not wanting to rack up much attention. Not that he was afraid of stirring things up on  _ his  _ turf, Saint N’ Sinners, but he generally liked to keep things chill. He only liked to spice things up when it was either in his favor, or if he just damn well pleased to, but right now, all he wanted to do is sit here and down his drink like a pro. So he was thankful that the bar was fully empty, with it just being him and the bartender. It was lunch hour, so usually the place would be packed and full of people, civilians and thugs alike, but Len had shut down the bar just for him as he was in no mood to be dealing with people. 

 

He had gripped the glass until his calluses grew numb under the cold. The snowy haired man brought the translucent glass to his lips as he downed the glass all in one go. The bartender didn’t even need to be signaled, he just walked up to Len with the bottle of scotch in hand and began to pour more for him. Len only drank scotch on the really good days, when they had either pulled the a good heist or if they rob just the right bank. And also drank scotch on the really bad days, when the plan would go off the rails and they would leave with nothing, or if one of Len’s own had died in the process. See, tonight was neither of those things, but one can guess as to which side Len was leaning more toward. 

 

Len was no alcoholic. He has had too many beatings and spankings from the person he once called a ‘father’ to know damn well what one was. He just wanted to spend a night,  _ or afternoon,  _ to try to relax and forget about his problems. But he knows he won’t forget them. Drinking just puts the things you don’t want to think about in the back of one’s mind, not really at the forefront, but still there, ready to bite you in the ass when one comes to their senses. It was kind of sad, getting fully drunk at two o’clock in the afternoon. But goddammit, if he wanted to drink, then he’ll fucking drink to his heart’s delight. Besides, he thinks his reasons are good reasons to get drunk, even if his sister didn’t approve. 

 

Through the darkness and dim lighting of his favorite bar, he could see his sister sitting in his most favorable booth. She sat there with on leg over the other, wearing her high platform stilettos. Lisa sat there, phone in hand, typing away to god knows who, ignoring the now empty plate of what once was jalapeno nachos. The cryomaniac had told her that he would just come to the bar alone, and that she should just stay at the warehouse. She had given him a look, and told him that he was an idiot for letting Hayden walk out, but she would go with him to control his alcohol consumption. She wasn’t looking at him now, but she knows that he was staring at her, just as when he wasn’t looking at her, it was vice versa. The brunette let him fully have it when they were on their way over here, that instead of drinking, he should be out looking for the teenage strawberry blonde. He took a good swing to his drink. Ha! Why the hell should he go looking for the sorry brat? He was the one who wanted to go in the first place! So who the hell was Len to stop him?He felt small, repeated vibrations coming from his pocket, and pulled out his phone. His eyes rolled when he got a glimpse of the caller ID, but decided to play this game anyway. 

 

_ “You done sulking?” _

 

Len shook his head as he finished the last of his glass. The bartender was about to fill the glass once more, but he motioned with his finger ‘no’. “I’m not sulking.”

 

_ “Really, then what do you call all this then, brother dearest?” _

 

“I’m just taste testing. This place  _ is  _ one of my investments.” 

 

_ “Sweetie, you could have this bar running even if no customers showed up.”  _

 

“Whatever.” He decided to turn in his seat and face his sister. He eyed her from his side of the bar, and she looked straight at him, not backing down. “Don't’ you have something to do? Have any stores to shop at?” 

 

Lisa smiled as she grabbed a nacho from her bowl, and stuffed it in her mouth. He could hear the crunch not only through the phone, but across the bar as well. And his sister, ever the lady, decided to speak with her mouth full.  _ “Sexist. Why do you assume I have stores to hit? Cause I’m a girl?”  _

 

“Yes.” He knew she was just poking fun, so he decided to play along with her. “

 

_ “For your information, I only have  _ **_one_ ** _ store that’s been catching my eye, and it’s the Gucci store at the mall.”  _

 

“Oh? Whatever happened to the Prada right off Main?” 

 

_ “Been there done that, you know how it is. Besides, the other day I was out with Shawna and she was eyeing a woman’s Gucci wallet. And Christmas is coming up soon, by the way.”  _

 

“How can you be so sure that she wasn’t eyeing what was  _ in  _ the wallet?” 

 

_ “Trust me, Lenny. I’ve seen the look on plenty of women before. She looked at the wallet, and then looked at her purse, making the comparison. But besides that, I’ve finished my nachos, which is going on your tab, and we’ve been here for over an hour. So, I’m just wondering if your done. Because, again, we’ve been here for an hour, and I’m pretty sure you’re only decently drunk.”  _

 

Len scoffed. “I’m not drunk. And I didn’t even want you to come anyway, so don’t even try complaining.” 

 

Len cursed to himself as he put his hands to his face. He knows damn well that he fucked up royally, but was he going to tell that to his sister? Like hell he is. And would he ever tell that to Hayden, either? Ha, fat chance. But Hayden wasn’t your regular little kid, no, as Mick had once so rightly put it, he was a freaking little firecracker, waiting to be lit and blow a fuse at any point. And the teenager wasn’t just your regular push over either, even before the particle accelerator, so it ultimately led with him saying some real deep shit to Len, which caused the cryomaniac to say some stuff to. He doesn’t even remember what had really started the argument, but it had escalated  _ fast.  _ He said shit that he really fucking shouldn’t have, and it led to the kid storming out of the warehouse and to the outside world. Mick and Lisa came back to the warehouse about a few hours later, finding him on the couch shining his cold gun. Lisa already knew that something was up when she got a look at Len’s face. People usually think that his poker face is good, but once you get to know him for a while, all that just crumbles away, and you could see the tiny differences in his eyes, mouth, all everything in between. And besides, it was  _ Lisa,  _ so of course she would see he was upset. So he told the story to the two closest people he knew, and was greeted with a slap on the face from his sister, and a bop on the head from Mick. His best friend had just grunted in disapproval as he shook his head, and Lisa really tore him open a new asshole. Lisa had so welly laid out after she threw her heels at him (which were embroidered with  _ silver fucking pyramid studs _ ) that Len was the adult. He couldn’t stoop to Hayden’s dumb, adolescent level, as the kid probably even didn’t know the weight of the insults he had sprouted out. 

 

And what was Len’s solution to solve the problem? Drinking. 

 

He groaned. The thing is, deep down, he knew that she was right. He would of course never admit that to her face, but she was right nonetheless. He just… he didn’t want to see the kid’s face again, not after all that he had said to him. Len didn’t want to have to face Hayden, he didn’t want to hurt the kid again.  Len still remembers the face the blonde had given him, the look of hurt, the look of  _ betrayal.  _ But to be honest, what the hell did anyone expect? Len be a good guardian and hope for the best? Wrong. That deep in his body, the silent lurch of his stomach was trying to tell him to go find Hayden. Len wasn’t that much of a piece of shit, he had called all of his other warehouses to see if the kid showed up at one point or another. Each house said that he never showed, so Len tried to call any one who might have known where the blonde could have gone. They all came up dead. 

 

_ “Can you stop that? I can hear you groaning and moaning in agony from my seat.”  _

 

He sighed. 

 

_ “Heard that too.”  _

 

Len removed the phone from his ear and pressed a bit more harsh than needed on the glass screen to end the call with Lisa. He could hear her scoff of dismay from across the bar, and tried not to make any noise as he sat up from his high booth at the bar and walked toward his sister. Len left a more generous tip for the bartender for dealing with his crap next to the now empty glass. He never really got the guy’s name, he thinks the man told him when Len had first sat down. He’ll try to remember next time, as the man knew how to pour some damn good scotch on the rocks. As he approached, Lisa set her phone down next to her now empty martini glass, which he remembers her downing when they had first arrived. Her long brown eyelashes just blinked dumbly at him, which signaled to Len that she was starting to get impatient and was tired of his shit already. 

 

He sat across from her with a loud huff. 

 

“You done? Can we go find him now?” She said. Leave it Lisa to go head first into it. He guessed that what he loved about his sister. Unlike himself, Len loved to be a cryptic bastard, always leaving people on a mysterious note, especially his favorite Scarlet Speedster. But Lisa? Hell no, she liked things upfront and straightforward, never really been able to enjoy the satisfaction of being enigmatic. 

 

He rubbed his face. “I don’t know Lis. I think I fucked up on this one too much.” 

 

“Oh, I'm sure you did.” She said with a despondent laugh. Lisa was smiling at him, but her eyes said everything. His sister’s deep golden eyes were gazing at him with sorrowful pity, not leaving room for any quarter. “But right now isn’t a time to be getting drunk.” 

 

Len took his hand out of his face to lean forward and see if there were anymore nachos in the bowl for him to munch on. “I’m not drunk. Only decently drunk. You said that, remember? And damn, woman, you couldn’t leave any for me?” 

 

“Nope, maybe if you would have woken up from your little pity party sooner, then maybe you could have gotten a taste before the chef went to lunch.” She was such a sassy bastard, why the hell did he put up with her again? 

 

“I could just wait until he’s  _ off  _ of lunch…” 

 

“Oh no you don’t.” She leaned forward as she crossed her arms over her chest. “We are not staying here any longer than we have to. Aren’t you even worried about him?” 

 

He was obviously worried for the damn, ungrateful brat. But he was more worried that the strawberry blonde would run off and do something stupid as hell, especially with his powers. His kid  _ was _ blonde, after all. Or even worse, the kid would go and run straight into the arms of some of their  _ enemies  _ by accident. Hayden wasn’t an idiot, but he does have a track record of being put in dangerous situations on Len’s account. 

 

“You know I am Lis, but what the hell am supposed to do?” He looked his sister straight in the eyes. “I’ve already checked all the warehouses, and I already scrutinized all of the heathens he hangs out with. The kid knows how to disappear,  _ you  _ taught him that, remember?” 

 

“Hell yeah I did.” The woman flicked her dark brown hair off her shoulders. “And if I remember correctly, brother dearest, you were the one who told me to teach him, remember?” 

 

Yes, he did. But what could he say? He wanted Hayden to be safe, even if Len or anybody else couldn’t be there to do it. It’s not like the cryomaniac could have eyes on him twenty-four seven, no matter how much he wanted to. Len tries to keep the boy on lock and key, never letting him stray too far away from the pack. Usually, the kid would stay at the main warehouse, the one where only Len, Mick, Lisa, and he knew about. They only went there to get away from the other Rogues, or when they just wanted to relax and not worry about the good old blues. Len would typically find the blonde tampering with his with the med kit in the back corner, or something like that. He put his elbow on the table, and rested his chin in his hand. Other than that, where would have the teen run off to? Surely, he wasn’t stupid enough to go running off to the tracks to find Mardon. Knowing the glorified weatherman, Mardon was most likely long gone by now, probably headed to National or Star City to lay low for a while. His heart sank into the pit of stomach at the thought of Hayden running off and going after Mardon. 

 

Len shuddered at the thought. 

 

“Did you check the apartment?”

 

Huh?

 

“Huh?”

 

“I said,” Lisa’s voice held no room for error. “Did you check the apartment?”

 

Silence.

 

Len stared into the eyes of his one and only sister for who knows how long. They didn’t break eye contact either, just stayed blissfully quiet, staring into each other’s eyes with Len’s jaw going slack. 

 

“I…” 

 

“OH MY  _ GOD. _ ” The brunette’s hands flew from her crossed arms and slammed hard on the deep, dark wooden table. Everything on the table shook for a few seconds, before returning to stillness. Her voice had roared through the bar, which made Len glad that his favorite hangout spot was empty. Even on a full night at Saint N’ Sinners, if Lisa would have screamed like the way she just did, there surely would have been some head’s going their way. At the corner of his eye, he saw the bartender come out of the kitchen a knife in hand. Len had silently praised the man for being ready just in case of a dire situation. He motioned with his hand that everything was alright, and the young man nodded, going back into the bar’s kitchen. “You didn’t check the  _ apartment?! _ ” 

 

“Um…” 

 

_ “Lenny!”  _

 

“Look, in my defense, we haven’t been there in a month.” 

 

“Yes, and that’s the longest we’ve ever been apart from it!” Len though she was going to break her neck at the way she kept shaking her head in disapproval. She hastily picks up her cell and begins to jarringly tap on the screen of her phone. “How could you forget the apartment?”

 

“What are you doing?” 

 

“Calling Mick.” She snapped at him. “He said he was going over there anyway to pick up one of his gas masks, don’t ask.” 

 

Oh, Len stopped asking about what the hell Mick needed things for a long time ago. The last time was when Mick had asked Len where did they keep the flint. ‘Just for recratory purposes,’ the pyromaniac had said. He doesn’t know why the hell he didn’t intervene sooner, because it led to the whole block of their building to be evacuated on the street because of the giant fire Mick had caused in their kitchen. Len still remembers the time it was just him, Lisa, and Hayden out on the sidewalk in the dead of winter in nothing but their sleeping clothes. Hayden was a little younger, so Lisa had to tuck him under his hip to keep warm. Mick was the last to leave the building, which was surprising to Len, and had approached the three. Len doesn’t think he’s ever punched the man harder in his life. 

 

The brunette had put the phone on speaker as she set in down on the table. Lisa kept glaring at him with a bite in her eyes as the phone dialed. “I swear to god, Lenny, if we went on this giant goose chase for nothing-” 

 

_ “What?”  _ MIck’s gruff voice rang out the phone. 

 

“Where are you?” She asked. 

 

_ “Home.”  _

 

“Which one?” Lisa asked skeptically.

 

_ “The fancy one with five bathrooms.”  _

 

Lisa’s usual seductive voice was gone, and instead replaced with a worrisome one. “Is Hayden there?”

 

_ “Yeah.”  _ Mick’s tone suggested that of why would his kid not be at home. The tension that was in his shoulders relaxed as he let out a long breath of relief. Hayden was safe. Thank god. From across the booth, Lisa was having a similar reaction, with the worry lines that had invaded her soft face disappearing.  _ “I was sittin’ in the livin’ room when he came through the front door. He headed straight to his room.”  _

 

“How is he?” Len asked. There was a brief pause, probably Mick being surprised that Len began to speak. “Have you tried talking to him?”

 

_ “Yeah. Tried goin’ in his room to check up on him, an’ Strawberry threw his shoe at me.”  _

 

“Just stay there and be with him until we get there Mick.” Len sat up from the booth. “Please.” 

 

_ “Fine. But pick me up a burger. I’m starvin’. And get Strawberry one too, the kid looked like he hasn’ eaten. He’s too skinny.”  _

 

“Will do, Mick. See ya in an hour.” He said. Lisa hung up the phone, and followed her big brother out of the bar and into the cold air of Central City. He could hear the click of Lisa’s heels as they made their way to Len’s car behind him. “Are you sure your ready to face him?” 

 

What Lisa was implying was that did he have an apology waiting for them when they got back to the apartment. He hoped that it could be left unsaid that indubitably he would apologize to the kid, and hopefully have a conversation about being more open with their feelings. He grimaced as he started the car’s ignition. He’s been reading too many parental books, especially the ones written by tiger moms. But was he terrified to speak to Hayden? Hell no, he was a thirty six year old man, what did he have to be afraid of? He bit the bottom of his lip as he opened the driver’s seat door. Deep down inside, in the lurch that kept creeping in his stomach, he was afraid he would say some other shit that would hurt the kid, maybe fuck the situation even more. He can only trust in his gu that the past few years of parenting would be put into good use and not be all in vain. Furthermore, he had Lisa and Mick to be there with him. Len could already picture it, him and Hayden talking, and the boy’s aunt and uncle pretending not to listen in the hallway. 

 

He’ll be fine, Len was only decently drunk after all. 

 

-000-

 

Len didn’t know if he liked the fact that Big Belly Burger was just down the street from their apartment or not yet. He was surprised how close it was, considering that he has never eaten here by himself before. Typically, it would be Mick or Hayden that would suggest that they eat here, so the only time he would eat Big Belly Burger is when the two of them would get them take out. Now, he wasn’t saying he’s  _ never  _ had the pleasure of walking into the fast food establishment, just that he never would eat here by choice. Len wasn’t a health freak, not like Shawna Baez, who would always get them salads when it was her turn to get dinner on a night of planning for one of their heists. And they were always so fucking  _ disgusting.  _ He wasn’t a child, he was not afraid of his vegetables, but the arrangement of each salad would be the worst in all of human history. Once, Shawna got all of them straight kale salads, no ranch or anything. When Len had asked for some, she had said that ranch had too many calories, and it was better to eat it the way it was. Mick looked like he wanted to strangle the woman right there. 

 

It was then later discussed and voted that Shawna Baez was no longer allowed to get dinner. 

 

But he wasn’t so sure that this is what he wanted to eat. He wanted something more… cultural. Now, as much as he hates to admit it, Big Belly Burger is an iconic staple to that of Central City cuisine, one he most certainly does not mind indulging himself in every now and then, but no. He wanted something… asian. Len cringes to himself as he steps out of his silver Jaguar with Lisa not far behind him. Yeah, he didn’t know if that sounded perverted, or just plain racist. Yet, for some strange reason, he’s been dying for chinese food for the past couple of days. But he doesn’t really know any places that are actually good… 

 

He opened the door for Lisa before they both headed inside the fast food establishment. There were no people sitting in any of the booths or tables, but Len wasn’t worried. It was late afternoon, so the lunch hour had already ended, and the dinner rush was a few hours away, so the white haired man assumed the emptiness was customary. Len’s eyes darted straight to the line to see if there was any wait, and he was glad to see that there were only a few people waiting. 

 

Before he got in the aisle line, Lisa put a hand on his shoulder as she walked passed him. “Order me what Hayden usually gets. Gotta use the ladies room. I hope the bathroom isn’t as bad as the decor.” 

 

Len nodded his head absently as he got in line and wondered what the hell did he want. Though he was at the back of the line, he could see the pictures of burgers hanging up behind the counter clearly. There were so numbers and combos to choose from, he didn’t really know what the hell to get. He already knows what Mick and Hayden get: a Triple Triple burger with no mayonaise for Mick, and a Double Bacon burger with extra pickles for Hayden. Ugh, this all sounds like a heart attack and some food poisoning eloping. 

 

Hmm, but what did he want? 

 

“Whatever happened to getting sandwiches, my valiant hero?” 

 

“It wasn’t  _ my  _ fault that Jitters was getting fumigated! How was I supposed to know that they recently had a racoon problem?” 

 

“Sure. Well, I gotta take a massive piss.” 

 

“Yeah, you downed that entire soda while driving over here.” 

 

“I stopped at the Big Belly Burger near the precinct, and let me tell you, it was delicious.” 

 

“And did you steal the van? Who the hell gave you the keys in the first place?” 

 

“First of all, we have like a thousand vans in the garage of the lab, and second, I’m a wonderful driver, got you here alive, didn’t I?” 

 

“Barely. Who issued you a license anyway?” 

 

“CAN’T HEAR YOU I’M WALKING TO THE BATHROOM.” 

 

Len winced as his hand reflexed straight up to cover his ear. He wanted to rip the guy a new one for screaming in his ear so loudly, but decided to let it go. He felt the man slid passed him as they walked toward the same direction his sister went just seconds before. He saw from the corner of his eye that the figure was tall, taller than most, and walked with a strangely peppy skip in his step. Len shook his head as he watched the brown haired figure walk to the bathrooms, staring at the man’s purple hoodie. Yeah, only a peppy person would wear a purple hoodie like that. Len cocked his head to the side as he watched the man disappear through through the bathroom doors. No, it was definitely more of a sangria color, a dark one at that. But Len already knew - or he could assume highly accurately - that the man was no other than the Elongated Man. Now, he didn’t know the man well, never even uttered a word to him. To his knowledge, the man had only just recently joined the Flash jamboree in the passed year, so he really didn’t have the chance to meet the stretch in person. He has been busy for the passed year too, ever since he left the Legends to go back to normal a semi normal life. To Hayden.

 

But how did he know that the man was the Elongated Man? Len would be a bad criminal if he at least didn’t recognize a voice that was not in his directo. He doesn’t need to turn around to know that it was none other than the Scarlet Speedster standing right behind him. And he only guessed it was the guy that had accompanied him into the fast food establishment was the Elongated Man due to the color of the sweat shirt being identical to that of the man’s superhero suit. He’s never seen the brunette unmasked, but he wasn’t just another dumb civilian who couldn’t put two and two together. 

 

But he could feel the presence of the speedster behind him. 

 

“Snart?”

 

Here we go. 

 

Len smirked at the speedster as both ice blue met with a deep green hazel. Barry’s eyes were shot wide, wider than Len had ever seen them. Barry was wearing his usual get up, a khaki jacket with a white shirt and dark blue jeans. His entire get up matched that to the cold autumn days of Central City. He looked so freaking  _ young,  _ it made the cryomaniac want to smirk at the kid even more. Now Len had a different approach to compete with the incoming cold, and that was just him wearing a black leather jacket and black pants. He really was never one for bright colors. Hell, the brightest thing he owned was his white parka that was hidden away in the secret warehouse. But even with all that, the brunette looked good. 

 

Too good. 

 

“Barry.” He slightly cocked his hand toward the fellow male. He crossed his arms as he kept smiling at the Speedster, who had no idea what to do with his hands himself. 

 

“I… what are you doing here?” Barry’s eyes kept trailing up and down his body, as if he was surprise that Len even existed. 

 

He understands what the brunette means though, he means ‘here’, as in this point in time. Barry probably assumed that Len was still with the Legends, traveling through time to different eras.  He never really contacted the other man when he decided to stay in 2018 and live the rest of his non-time travelling life. He’s only been back for a couple of months, so he can’t say that he has had enough time to pay team Flash a visit. Not that he ever had the urge to. He and Barry may be comrades now instead of nemeses, but they weren’t exactly  _ friends.  _ It wasn’t that he held a grudge against the brunette, it’s just that they haven’t really had a time to interact together again. 

 

Len did not really know how to respond, but he opts for this. “Well, when people get hungry, they usually get something to eat, Barry.” 

 

“Yeah. but - wait, you eat here?” 

 

He shrugged his shoulders. “Occasionally.” 

 

Barry’s confused expression soon turned to that of a curious one. “Ha. Never really figured you for a fast food type.” 

 

Ooh, he can’t pass that one up. Len leaned forward. “And what is my type, Barry?” 

 

Over the time they have spent together, Len realizes that Barry has a thing where he doesn’t realize what he is saying. He soon learned that Barry has a bad case of foot in the mouth, especially when it came to the cryomaniac. But if Len was being honest with himself, it was mostly just him twisting Barry’s words around to make it seem like something more. To the speedster, he doesn’t realize there could be a double meaning to the words he just said. But Len  _ was  _ the villain after all, or used to be. Len’s blue eyes sparkle as the tips of Barry’s pale ears began to turn a bright rose, and he felt achieved. He felt even more so when the Scarlet Speedster began to sputter out words uncontrollably. 

 

“When- when did you you get back? I thought you were with the Legends.” Barry was able to get out. Len noticed how the man finally decided what to do with his hands, and put them in the pockets of his blue jeans. 

 

“Oh, just a few months ago. Got a little tired of the hero thing.” 

 

Barry’s chin tilted down to the floor as he stared with dismay into Len. He couldn’t deny that the way Barry’s eyes darkened wasn't attractive. “Snart…” 

 

Len put his hands up as he laughed out his next statement. “I kid, Barry, I kid! You don’t have to be so serious.” 

 

“I know, it’s just… why didn’t you call me?” 

 

Len scrunched his eyebrows as he tilted his head to the side. “I didn’t know we were on ‘calling’ terms.” 

 

“You helped me when we broke into Argus, yeah we’re on ‘calling’ terms.” 

 

“Oh,” was all he say. What the hell was he supposed to say to that? ‘Sorry I haven’t called sooner, I just thought we were going to move on with our individual lives?’ Ugh, now he sounds like an asshole. He just didn’t think that Barry would care all that about him, he thought they were going to keep their relationship strictly professional. Well, as professional as all this superhero business can be. But then again, this was Barry fucking Allen. He cared about everyone and everything. After all, he was a hero of mother fucking justice after all, but Len? He was proud to say that he was now somewhere in between, confidently… 

 

Perhaps. He wasn’t really sure yet. 

 

“But speaking of which, I still don’t forgive you for locking me in a room with a giant shark.” 

 

Len almost jumped at the way Barry had threw his arms in the air. “It wasn’t my fault the doors shut! It was supposed to be a slick plan, break into the super secret meta wing/prison, steal the thing, and get out of there. Besides we got you out just before -” 

 

It was then, that Barry had caught Len’s shit eating grin. 

 

“And you’re totally messing with me.” The brunette’s arms flopped to his sides. 

 

Len pointed a finger gun at the CSI. “Bingo.” 

 

“Next, please!” The cashier’s voice caught both of their attention. The woman in which the cashier was dealing with stepped to side as she waited for her food, which gave the pair incentive to step toward the counter. The fast food worker smiled brightly at them, showing off her annoyingly pristine white teeth. “What can I get you?” 

 

“Hmm.” He weighed in on all of his options as he stared above her to look at the menu. “Can I get a Triple Triple burger with no mayonnaise, and two Double Bacon burgers with extra pickles, please?” 

 

“And the sizes for each meal?”

 

“Uh, an extra large for the Triple Triple, and a large and a small for the Double Bacons. Oh, and the drinks with will be a two cokes and a sprite.” 

 

“Will that be all?” She asked brightly. 

 

“No…” He kept staring at the menu for a few seconds, before he swiftly turned to Barry. His hazel eyes were skimming across the abundance of food options, most likely trying to find an option he could choose. Oh, he was going to have fun with this. He asks with a little of mischief, “What do you suggest?” 

 

Barry’s head jolted back, put off guard by the question. He turned his head to look at Snart, surprised that the man had even spoken to him while he was ordering his food. Len found it strangely cute at how flustered the brunette was when he was put on the spot. “What?” 

 

“What do you regularly get?” He asked tilting his head. 

 

Barry rubbed the back of his head as he stared into a far off space. “Um, I just get the Three Triple Triple combos, all with extra large fries, and large cokes.” 

 

Len stared at the kid for a few seconds, before giving Barry a full on laugh. Oh my god, that was great. And the CSI had no idea that what he said had made Len’s day. And the look that Barry was giving him was even greater. His brown eyebrows scrunched close together as he looked at Len like he was some sort anomaly. Len somehow knew that Barry needed to eat, like a lot, to stay alive. He was somewhat aware that he needed to consume more due to his super speed, but he didn’t exactly know how much. But, damn, three Triple Triple burgers? That’s enough to feed an entire family, and then some. He faced the cashier, looking ever so delighted. “You heard the man.” 

 

She smiled knowingly into the screen in front of her and began to type rapidly on the screen. He was impressed at how much the young girl remembered the length of Barry’s order. He could see Barry taking a step forward, but Len already put his hand up. “Don’t even try it, Scarlet.” 

 

“I can pay for my own food.” He says with a bit of venom to his voice. 

 

“I don’t doubt it. Oh, and I’ll have a grilled chicken sandwich. Extra mayo please, with a sprite.” 

 

“Will that be all?” She asked again. 

 

“And what does your friend eat, Barry?”

 

“Well, he wanted a  _ crispy  _ chicken sandwich…” 

 

Len nodded his head absently as he began to pull out his black wallet from out his leather jacket. He could already see the look of protest from the corner of his eye coming from Barry, but he wouldn’t give in. The cryomaniac wanted to pay for the meal, a sign of good faith between them. He didn’t feel as he was disrespecting Barry straight up, more like just setting up good ground between them.  He began flipping through his wallet to find one of his debit cards, which was of course under a pseudo, ‘Leonard  _ Art _ .’ 

 

Yeah, okay, he knows it’s not that creative, but goddamnit it was what Lisa chose and he has to stand by it. 

 

“The same as the last meal, but crispy. And that will be all.” 

 

“Alright, your total will be sixty five dollars and forty five cents, please.” 

 

He passed his card to the woman, to Barry’s dismay. He found it funny at all the passive aggressive facial expressions that Barry was making, but he just ignored them as the woman slid the small plastic object and gave it back to him while the receipt printed. 

 

“Snart-” 

 

“It’s Len, Barry.” 

 

“Uh-?”

 

“It just feels weird to me that you kept calling by last name and I kept calling you by first. Makes our relationship more…  _ intimate,  _ don’t you think?” 

 

Barry begins to cough uncontrollably, and it makes Len’s day even more. 

 

“It’ll be out in just a moment. Next please!” 

 

“Thank you.” Len says curtly before standing off to the side, waiting for their meal to be called. 

 

“That was a lot of food for just yourself.” Barry says observantly. 

 

“Yep.” He was completely fine with his answer, but it wasn’t until he caught sight of Barry’s puppy dog eyes that he decided to groan and elaborate. Why the hell were those big Hazel eyes making him  _ want  _ to say more? “Wait, wait. You’re getting dinner for  _ Heatwave  _ and  _ Golden Glider _ ?”

 

Len wasn't really thinking when the next words came out of his mouth. He shrugged his shoulders. “And someone else.” 

 

“Who?” 

 

Len open his mouth but closed it as fast as he opened it. Hayden was far from Len’s dirty little secret, but he had to keep his kid’s best interests first. He never told another living soul he existed, unless they were part of the Rogues, or if it was someone he would trust to the grave.There are a lot of dangerous people in the business he used to run, he knew that better than any of his people. The Rogues had only found out due to Mardon opening his big fat mouth, all because he spent a night drinking with the Pied Piper. He remembered being so mad at the man, that he threw him out of the Rogues for almost three months before he squirmed his way back inside. But now the blonde had to go and make a fool of himself to get himself arrested a few months back. He had suspected the man to go to one of the warehouses, to go and seek refuge, but he was pleasantly surprised to see that the man had blissfully decided to skip town. Fuck, speaking of the Pied Piper, he remembered that Ratheway had came over yesterday to help Hayden with homework from his anatomy class. They didn’t get to finish, so the pair had agreed that the scientist would come over again tomorrow - which is now  _ today  _ \- to finish. So he should probably expect the man to be there when he got home. So he didn’t know if he wanted to tell Barry yet. He knew that the speedster wouldn’t tell a soul, as it was in his nature to be a good person and keep people’s secrets, but something in gut told him  _ not yet.  _

 

Len didn’t realize that their shoulders were touching until he turned his head to look at the brunette. He could feel the man’s power burning through his clothes as their shoulders rubbed together. He didn’t know how to describe it, but he could quickly grow accustomed to the feeling. Oh god, what the hell was he saying? But as he had turned his head, his face had almost collided with the CSI, but he had quickly dodged it, and was now facing the man full faced, staring into those deep hazel eyes. They were a deep green on the outside, reminding him of the forests of the outskirts of the city, of the cabin he owns. But the inside was a deep brownish-gold, reminding him of the gold he had seen in all the banks and the museums. 

 

They were beautiful. 

 

But as he looked passed Barry’s face, he was glad he saw his sister coming from the back of the restaurant, with a stunning look of disgust coming from her scrunched up nose and eyes. He stepped away from Barry, still feeling the man’s super body heat as he did so. 

 

“Ugh, this is why girls go to the bathroom in pairs,. so one of the can hold the other by the arms so the other doesn’t have to sit on the toilet-” Lisa paused on her tiny rant to get a good look at Barry standing next to him, whose jaw was slack. Her eyes went up and down his body to get a good look at him, as if she was trying to remember where he was from. “If it isn’t the CSI.” 

 

Barry gave an awkward smile before shyly waving his hand. “Hi, Lisa.” 

 

The female brunette turned to her brother with her left eyebrow cocked. He just shrugged his shoulders as he crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall, trying to watch the fast food workers in the back be ready with their food. But he only did this so he didn’t have to give the auromaniac an answer as to why his ex arch enemy just happened to appear in a random Big Belly Burger. 

 

“This is a cute coincidence.” She says observantly. But if there is one thing Len had ever taught Lisa, there were no such thing as coincidences.

 

“Uh, yeah.” Barry nodded his head. “It is. How have you been?”

 

“Alive. But better, considering there used to be a bomb in my neck.”  Lisa winked at him. “But you figured that all out for me, didn’t you?”

 

“Yeah. I’m glad you're still alright. Last time I checked, Cisco said you went off riding into the sunset on your motorcycle.” 

 

“More like headed to National City to check up on some of my investments, wait for my brother to miraculously get out of prison. But, ha, is that what he said?” Lisa giggled as she flicked some of her long light brown hair behind her back. She beamed at the mention of the technician. “How is he? I haven’t seen him since we had our…  _ lustful  _ departure.” 

 

“Umm…” It was clear that the speedster had no idea what to say to that, and it made Len smile. “He’s fine,  _ alive _ at least.” 

 

Len’s head tilted toward the other man at his last statement. He didn’t need to know that Team Flash was always up something, but what mess were they in now? All jokes aside, he doesn’t need another King Shark situation on his hands, he preferred to have his battles on land. 

 

Lisa’s brown eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean, Barry?” 

 

Barry’s head joled back at the woman’s direct tone. “Oh, um, it’s just that he’s out of town

 

“Barry, when you mean ‘out of town,’ what do you mean by that?” Len asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.” 

 

Barry’s eyes darted all around the restaurant, as if he was looking for someone who might be listening in. He smiled to himself as he watched the man do so, finding the scientist’s movement’s childlike, but humorous all the same. 

 

“Remember Zoom?” 

 

Did the man ever. He remembers being told about the speedster coming from an alternate earth, Earth-2 to be exact, pretending to be another speedster being called of the name Jay Garrick. He doesn’t know if the man wanted to keep a secret identity or not, but he found out the name from one of his reliable sources. He was told that the city had been taken over by meta humans of this far off Earth, and that they had almost one too, if it wasn’t for Barry and his team. It sounds random, but Len had actually been in National City, dealing with some of the investors that Lisa had been talking about earlier when the attack happened. The cryomaniac was glad that the man had taken Hayden with him before the attack happened. He was glad that the kid was so intent on going, wanting to see the rocky deserts on the outskirts of the city. Len wouldn’t have known what to do if his kid had gotten hurt because of him. 

 

So yes, Len was all too familiar with the name. He nodded his head to Barry, who continued. 

 

“Cisco’s on Earth-2, the earth where Zoom had come from.” 

 

Lisa put a hand to her cheek. “Damn. How’d he get there?” 

 

“We…” Barry looked to the floor before looking back up. “Found a way to make portals here and there.” 

 

Lisa’s jaw dropped as her arms flopped to her sides. “That’s amazing. And there’s more of us, on that Earth, right? Like another you or me? Or Lenny?” 

 

Barry nodded his head vigorously. “Yeah. It’s pretty cool. I’ve even met my doppleganger.” 

 

“Your what?” Lisa's face scrunched up. 

 

“It’s what we call our ‘other’ selves.” The man used air quotes. “And it was really trippy. It was like meeting a long lost twin or something.” 

 

“Cool. But what is Cisco doing there?” She asked. 

 

“Science! Science things, with our friend Harry.” Barry said with a rush to his words. Len and Lisa made eye contact for a split second before falling back to Barry, who was now looking at an ad poster on the wall. It was clear as day that Barry was hiding something from the siblings, but Len decided that he wouldn’t pry. It wasn’t his place to, not matter how much he wanted to know. 

 

“I’m sure he is.” Len said. “Doing ‘science things.’”

 

“Hmm.” Barry nodded his head, unconvincingly. 

 

They stayed in silence for a few seconds. 

 

“I wonder what’s taking Ralph so long.” Barry said distantly. 

 

“Ralph?” Len asked, acting like he didn’t know who the man Barry was talking about. 

 

“Yeah, my friend. He went to the bathroom a while ago. He was the one who screamed that he needed to take a piss to the whole restaurant.” 

 

“Sounds charming.” Len said, putting his attention to the bags of food and drinks that was just displayed on the cashier counter. “Purple sweater, right?” 

 

“I was thinking it was more of a sangria color.” Len beamed at that. He appreciated a man who had a good sense of color, even though it was biologically known that men can’t see colors as well as women do. 

 

He could see the look on his sisters face when she had propped herself up from the wall next to him. She had a look of realization hit her face as she faced the scarlet speedster. “Wait, is he tall, with brown hair, kinda skinny?” 

 

Barry nodded his head. 

 

“When I came out of the poor excuse of a the bathroom they got going here, I got a peek of the men’s and saw the guy arguing with an old man. I think I heard the words ‘foam’ and ‘this is why the new generation is killing the Earth.” She ended her sentence with a light laugh. 

 

Barry threw his arms in the air before he threw his hands to his face. “What?! God _ damnit _ , he loves messing with the foam in the bathroom! Can’t leave him alone for two seconds by himself!” Both of the siblings were left to stare at the man’s back as he hastily stepped to the back of the fast food restaurant. He had already assumed that the Elongated Man was an idiot, seeing how in the news and papers how much rookie mistakes the man was making, but this is something else in an entirely different ball park. Well, not all villains are smart, Len knows that damn too much, so maybe the same thing can be said about heroes. 

 

“Len?” The nice cashier smiled with those blinding teeth to get their attention. He propped himself off the wall just like his sister had just seconds before and approached the over peppy woman. He looked through the bags and drinks to try to find Barry’s food and his friend’s. Once found, he pushed it to the side while he got his family’s things. He passed some bags and drinks to Lisa while he carried his own as well. 

 

“Excuse me, when the guy who was with us comes back out, could you give him this?” He gestures to the contained food left on the counter. The girl nodded her blonde head as she smiled and began to help to next customer in line. 

 

“Aw, we’re not gonna say goodbye, Lenny?” She teased as they walked through the doors and into the parking lot. 

 

Goodbye? What the hell did Lisa think this was? That this was some sort of jamboree like on ‘ _ Friends?’ _

 

“Nope.” 

 

“And why not?” 

 

Len stopped halfway to his car, right in the middle of the parking lot. He knew this feeling, he has had it many times before, but he doesn’t know how far along this was yet. Was it when they bumped shoulders that Len felt an attraction to the young man? Or was it when he first came in the restaurant that this certain emotion came into play? 

 

“Because I think I like him.” 

Lisa, the heinous woman that she was, decided it was okay to  _ laugh. _

 

“Well, you’ve always had a thing for prison.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly think this work is a mess. Lol


End file.
